Italy: Pro-migrant activists put themselves in chains in front of the Ministry of Transport

Fifty activists from the #restiamounmani (“Let Us Remain Human”) network are protesting against the government’s decision to close ports to NGO ships.

Wearing chains on their feet and hands, as well as orange lifejackets, the activists held up signs denouncing Italy as a “state shipwreck” undergoing the “sinking of rights,” and calling for “obligatory aid” for migrants.

Italy’s Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, decided in early June to close Italian ports to NGOs providing relief to migrants in the Mediterranean. He has accused these organizations of being complicit in human trafficking, benefitting smugglers and organized crime in particular. The NGOs themselves strongly deny this.